Homecoming
by Fall Risk the Trash Panda
Summary: Drew's been away on deployment for almost ten months and Rick misses him. Merry (belated) Christmas and happy holidays for everyone. Sorry it's a couple days late.


Homecoming

Summery: Drew surprises Rick. (D/R)

A/N: Not set in the show really or in my A/U version of events. But this is a little story that popped into my head, just as something cute and sweet.

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5:45 AM

Rick groaned as he was dragged kicking and screaming from sleep. He laid on his back for a moment, slightly dazed, wanting very much to smash the alarm clock with his fist into very tiny pieces. The daze lasted for less than a second, however, as his brain finally kicked into gear. He forced his body into motion, climbing out of bed and hobbling ungracefully to the bathroom. He set about his morning routine, preparing for the day. It felt a little ridiculous, being up this early, especially since he didn't have to be to work until 0900 hours. But he had a 'date' with his husband, and he was sure as hell not going to miss it.

It had been nine months and fifteen days since Drew had been deployed to Syria and Rick missed him terribly. Unlike Afghanistan or Iraqi, his husband's current assignment was chaotic and unstable, for lack of a better description. Drew was the doctor for a unique unit, in a hot zone, that was one part combat and one part humanitarian. The UN had launched a trial initiative that involved dropping military doctors into areas where there were refugees trapped. The US Army was using this as a way to gain more solid foot holds in the Isis controlled regions. So when Drew was deployed, his orders were to assist with the UN humanitarian efforts as well as with the combat missions. It had been a roller coaster for him, and for Rick.

The assignment was hard, mentally and physically. Each time Rick was able to speak to Drew, he could see the exhaustion, tension, and stress on the other's face. There were times where he was constantly working under gunfire, or forced to be up and functional for over twenty four hours. The hospital the UN had set up was ill equipped and poorly supplied, making surgery difficult to say the least. However, the challenges that Drew faced with each patient and in the improvised setting was making him a better doctor; more confident, more creative, and practiced. As an officer, a Captain, Drew was also becoming more comfortable with command and getting a full on crash course in leadership. It helped that the people he was working with were all good people, and they had formed a very tight bond.

For Rick, the hardest part was going days, sometimes weeks, without hearing from the other. It was seeing the exhaustion, stress, and, sometimes, the injuries and not being able to help. It was the frustration of not having his husband home. The loneliness, the constant worry, the almost physical pain of missing him. The annoyance and aggravation of not having him there to help make decisions. The irrational anger that Drew wasn't there when he wanted the other's support. There was also the disconnect; something that was major and important in Rick's world wasn't in Drew's and vice versa. It wasn't because they didn't care, it was because they didn't have the same context.

It was hard for Drew to get upset about a nine hour barricaded subject making Rick's shift go into overtime when he had spent twenty hours in surgery. Likewise, it was hard for Rick to understand why it was so exciting to see the same dog for three days in a row and finally convincing the camp commander to let them adopt it when he had to deal with their dog every day. Sure, Rick knew what Army life was like, but he was now a civilian police officer, and he had never served in Syria. He didn't have as full of an understanding of the battle field as he would have a couple of years ago or if it had been in Afghanistan. That was what made the 'dates' so important however.

Their dates were always video calls that lasted a meger thirty minutes but they meant everything to Rick right now. Normally they would happen in the morning Texas' time, and afternoon to evening Syria time, which was why Rick was up early. He hadn't heard from Drew in about a month besides the usual scattered emails. Drew had even missed Thanksgiving, which was disappointing but he understood. He just hoped he could at least speak to Drew on Christmas which was only a few weeks away. Today they had a video chat scheduled for 0630 hours and since he hadn't received any word from Drew that something had come up, he assumed they were still good to go. There was always a chance that Drew would miss the call, it had happened before. A last minute change of orders, an influx of patients, or a patrol mission were all reasons that the call could not come. But Rick always held onto his optimism, so at 0628 he was logged into the video chat, with his breakfast ready and waiting for the call.

It came, on time, and without the usual hiccups which was a pleasant surprise. So was the fact that Drew was freshly clean shaven for the first time in months. He had, had the worst shaggy beard and it had made him look like a stranger, until Rick had come to terms with the facial hair. This newly clean shaven man that now was on the screen looked almost like a freshman in high school. It was a dramatic juxtaposition and that made Rick laugh.

"Well hello to you too?" Drew said, amused but clearly confused as to why he was being laughed at..

"I'm sorry…" Rick managed to choke out, "I just…I expected a dirty homeless man…"

"Dirty homeless man? Is that what you think of my beard?" Drew scoffed in mock outrage.

Rick laughed harder, turning slightly red, "Yeah… yeah… it's a little shaggy…"

"Well fine… I guess I won't grow it back when I'm stateside…" Drew mumbled.

That gave Rick pause, because the other sounded almost sincere, "Wait…. You weren't actually thinking of growing a beard… were you?"

It was Drew's turn to laugh and he shook his head, "Hell no. It itched and I absolutely hated it. I'm glad it's gone."

"Thank God…" now growing suspicious, because the beard was an unofficial part of the Middle East uniform, Rick asked, "why are you shaved?"

Drew shifted, a little nervous but as to why, Rick couldn't tell, "Uh… new post."

"New post? This late in your deployment? Where are you now?" Rick asked, and he kind of felt like he should hold his breath. A new post, at this time, could only mean one of two things; Drew's time was getting extended or he was starting to get phased home.

"I'm getting closer to home…" Drew said and that made Rick's face light up.

"Wait! For real?" he said, excited, "like, what's the countdown? When you are you back? Any chance it'll be in time for Christmas?"

Drew shifted and fidgetted, again seemingly nervous, "I mean… I still got a while… as soon as I know, I'll let you know."

"Yeah… you better…" Rick grumbled, confused as to why Drew seemed to be dodging his questions.

"So what are you up to today?" Drew asked, clearly changing the subject.

"I got a training class. We're working on active shooter training. I have to do the gen course and then we're going to see who volunteers for the specialty training to be apart of a mass casualty squad. But, basics first. Every cop in the department has to take this class."

"Sounds fun…" Drew said, though he only seemed to be partially listening. Rick couldn't really see or hear anything on the call that would be distracting the other, but he guessed there had to be. Especially with Drew's next statement.

"I'm sorry… I got to cut this short. I gotta go…" He said, hanging his head.

"What's going on? Rick asked, worried.

"Nothing to worry about… just something that needs my attention...I'm sorry. I'll try to call you again soon…" Drew said and he couldn't really meet Rick's eyes.

"Soon as in maybe tonight?" Rick pleaded.

"I… I don't know if that'll be possible… I'm sorry…" Drew said, still not looking at Rick.

"Yeah… okay… stay safe," Rick sighed, unable to keep from sounding disappointed..

"You too. I love you. Bye," and then the feed was cut and Drew was gone.

Rick felt like pouting, now disappointed and irritated. He had woken up early, all excited, for a less than ten minute conversation with his husband, who was distracted and acting like he was hiding something. Sure, finding out he was being phased home was nice, but it would have been better if Drew seemed more excited about the news. With another sigh, Rick scoffed at his bowl of cereal, no longer interested in it, and deposited the remains in the sink. He knew that it was unfair of him to be mad at Drew, after all he didn't know what was happening over there, but… damn it, he had been looking forward to this all week and it was like Drew didn't even seem to care.

Glancing at the clock, it was still too early to head into work, but with the mood he was now in, sitting around the house wasn't going to help. A work out would be great, but he didn't have enough time for that. The dog would love a walk around their property, but there also wasn't enough time for that. But he needed something to do to blow off the steam that was now pressure cooking his temper. Especially because he had to teach today. He decided the best thing to do would be to go to the gun range and shoot something. Grabbing his gear, he set out for work, already hating the day.

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9:20 AM

The gun range had been a good idea. The hour he had spent firing at random targets had helped to release the tension and frustration he was holding. He felt better. He was still a little disappointed, but he wasn't upset anymore. That was good, because it left him level headed for the class he was gonna teach. He did not need to be a grump when he and fifteen patrol officers were going to be stuck in a six hour course, in a tiny classroom.

Going over his materials for the day, making sure he had everything, he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Hey Cap!" he heard a familiar voice call and he looked up, smile already on his face. Standing there was a middle aged women, dressed in the same blue polo and tan khaki pants as he was, her graying hair pulled back neatly, and coffee in hand.

"Kelso! What are you doing here?" Rick asked, hugging the other instructor as they met in the middle of the classroom.

Samantha Kelso was one of the officers assigned to the Academy and helped with a lot of the training for both cadets and officers. She was also a good friend of Rick's. "I guess you won't believe I was in the area?" she said, smiling at him as she leaned against one of the desks.

"Not on your day off…" Rick said, eyeing her suspiciously. She was one of the three instructors that were handling the mass shooter trainings and also the one coordinating with the EMS and Fire/Rescue side of things.

"Eh… We got some last minute add ons to the class, so I volunteered for OT," she said.

"Last minute add ons?" Rick asked, confused, "I didn't hear about any..."

"Huh… they didn't tell you? Go figure…" she said, sounding unsurprised, "did you check your email?"

Rick rolled his eyes and pulled his phone out, quickly scanning his unread emails. He scoffed when he saw what she was referring to. "They sent this to me not even thirty minuets ago… and come on… they called you in because they added one guy to the class? Really? That's so stupid…."

She shrugged, "I'm not complaining, OT is OT. I got two boys and Christmas is coming. I'll take my easy, no fuss time and a half."

Rick chuckled, "Well, I still think it's stupid but I'm glad to have you. This shit is so boring the tenth time around. Maybe you'll keep me from falling asleep."

Kelso laughed.

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10:45 AM

Rick was annoyed again, and he was trying hard not to show it. The class had started, and Kelso was doing the introduction and orientation. They had started late, however, because of one person, the last minute addition. Officer Javier Melendez, otherwise known as Javy, had yet to show up. Javy, on a personal level, was a good friend. He was in Drew's reserve unit and there were many memorable nights spent with Javy and his family. Right now, however, Javy was on Rick's shit list. It was one of the former Army Ranger's biggest pet peeves, being late, especially when you're a special accommodation to the class.

The email Rick had read had said something about Javy not being able to make his assigned training time so they had to add him in. Well, apparently, he wasn't able to make this time either since he was now almost an hour late. His supervisor was aware, hell he was in this class too long with Rick's, and had already called Javy. As of yet they hadn't heard from their wayward officer.

"Alright, you all still with me?" Kelso said, indicating she had finished with the course run down.

It snapped Rick's mind back into focus, and he returned his attention to the room. So far, it looked like this set of officers were still with them, but he was probably a little biased since they were all guys he knew well and worked with often on the SWAT team. It amused him when he had first seen the roster that he was basically teaching a class of friends and that meant two things. First, he could be much more relaxed and casually professional. The next was that he knew they were pretty with it and this would be an easy class. That was good, it meant they could make up the lost time quickly. Maybe even get done quickly.

"At any time you all have questions I want you to write them down and ask at the end of each section. You'll know when that is cause we'll tell you. Like Instructor Kelso said, we're going to take you through a deconstructed mass shooting. This particular shooting is the one that happened in Dallas. Be warned, it's not pleasant or easy to listen to. So, don't be afraid to ask for breaks, and if you need to step out, go ahead and do so. We're starting at the very beginning and gonna play some of the 911 calls…" Rick trailed off as a commotion at the door got his and the rest of the class' attention.

Looking over, there stood a particularly excited Javy, in fact he almost looked like he was giggling. That just made Rick even more annoyed with him. "Officer Melendez, nice of you to join us. Care to explain why you're an hour late to a class you asked to be reassigned to?"

Rick's tone was sharp, almost cutting, and definitely biting. It sobered up the other man, somewhat, and made the other officers in the room chuckle. Javy was like the class clown getting scolded by the teacher, and everyone wanted to watch the show down. "Yes… I absolutely have a reason...a...a good reason…" he said, and he was now trying very hard not to laugh.

Rick, despite himself, was also finding it hard not to laugh because of just how surreal this situation was. Javy should not be this...giddy…about being late to a class that his supervisor was in. Speaking of the supervisors, both Rick's and Javy's, as well as everyone else, were all excited for something, but nobody seemed upset. In fact, the whole room felt like Santa was coming. There was something going on and Rick's heartbeat picked up a little. "Alright… let's hear it. But I warn you, if it's not a good reason I'm making you run the obstacle course," Rick threatened and all the others in the room laughed.

"Well… I had to go pick someone up and we kinda hit traffic on the way in… but this was important…." Javay said, and now Rick was just confused. We? What was he talking about. The confusion must have shown on his because Javy couldn't stop the laughter now. The rest of the class were laughing too. "I'll just show you sir…" he said and before Rick could respond he had stepped out into the hall.

Rick moved to follow him, trying to figure out what was going on, but he didn't make it two steps. As soon as Javy was out of the way, Drew was standing there in his place. His husband was still in his Army uniform, as if he had just left base. He was smiling, brown eyes shining the way they always did when he was up to mischief. Rick just froze in place, dumbfounded.

For a second Rick couldn't process what was happening. It couldn't have been Drew, he had just spoken to him this morning, not even six hours ago. "What…? How?" Rick said, grasping for an intelligent or coherent thought. "Are you real?" he finally managed, and his voice was choking.

Drew laughed as the people around them laughed and cheered. Drew moved towards the Rick, and he still couldn't quite believe it. Not until the other was hugging him. That was when he felt his composure crack and he teared up, burying his face into Drew's neck.

"How… I just talked to you on the phone?" Rick said holding the other tightly.

"Yeah…" Drew said, "and to answer your questions… yes, I'll be home for Christmas and no, I won't call you back tonight. Hope that's okay?"

"Asshole… you're such an… You're really home?" He said, mostly laughing but with just enough of a hitch it made Drew squeeze him tighter. He felt the kiss on his check and heard the laugh, but refused to lift his head up, not wanting to break the connection.

"Surprise!" He heard Drew say, and felt the laugh in his chest. It was a hard thing though, hearing Drew over the applause in the room.

Rick finally got the courage to lift his head up, he had been afraid to move thinking if this was a dream, he would wake up. But when looked into his husband's eyes and realized that this wasn't a dream, he couldn't stop a few tears from falling. "How? How long have you been planning this?" Rick asked, still trying to make sense of what was happening.

"I got the orders the beginning of November…. I didn't know exactly when I was being shipped home so I just kinda was waiting and Javy gave me this idea…." Drew said, laughing at the mixed looks on Rick's face.

"Oh… Javy gave you the idea?" Rick repeated, pulling his husband back into a hug and 'glaring' at the other officer who was now back in the room.

Javy, who was now standing with Rick's supervisor, completely unashamed, raided his hands in the air and said "you're welcome!"

Rick laughed. "You got all of them in on this? Didn't you?"

"Well, I had to tell your CO…." Drew said, "He and Javy kinda took care of it from there."

Rick looked at his fellow officers and friends who were all there to share in this moment and clearly enjoying the surprise. "Yeah, we all knew," Kelso said, "and you're off for the weekend. Something about emergency leave, right Cap?" She looked over to Rick's boss. The senior officer was smiling ear to ear as he stood in the doorway watching.

"Yes. I don't want to see or hear from you for the next seventy two hours," he responded.

"I don't think that's gonna be a problem…" Rick said letting go of Drew just enough so the other man could straighten. There was yet another round of cheers and laughter but Rick barely noticed. All his attention was on the man in front of him.

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9:30 PM

They had just gotten home from dinner and an impromptu visit to San Antonio Memorial. Rick had suggested they stop by the hospital so that Drew could surprise the rest of his 'family' and it had been well worth it. The looks on everyone's faces and the very much needed outpouring of love and friendship had been good for both men. However, the time spent there was very brief, and Rick was very 'controlling' of it because he had absolutely no intention of letting Drew 'help out a little'. Uh-uh, not tonight. Not for several nights, in fact. He had a three day weekend, and nine months of lonely nights to make up for. Drew was gonna be lucky if he could leave the bedroom as far as Rick was concerned. There would be no sharing him anytime soon.

Shutting the door Rick smiled as he heard his husband talking to the dog. The pair were patrolling the house, making sure it was safe and locked down against attack. That was one of those conditioned habits brought back from the deployment that would be around for awhile. Eventually, as Drew transitioned back into normal day to day life, it would fade but for now Rick just left him to it. He leaned against the door, grinning like an idiot as he listened to his husband's voice. Part of him still couldn't believe this was real.

"Barricading the door?" Drew asked as he came back into the living room, their dog glued to his side.

Rick almost giggled but managed to stop himself by speaking. "As a matter of fact, I am."

Drew looked at him, eyebrow raised, "why? We got zombies or something?"

Rick shook his head, finally moving away from his spot and straight towards the other man. "I'm just making sure that we're not interrupted," he said.

"Interrupted?" Drew echoed, amused by the mischievous look in his husband's eyes.

"Yeah. Because somebody's in trouble," Rick said, casually balling his hand into Drew's shirt.

"For… what?" He asked, allowing himself to be drawn closer to the other.

"You know I _hate _surprises…" Rick teased, clearly eyeing up the other.

"Yeah. But you have to admit… it was a good one. Right?" Drew replied, leaning in towards him.

"It was… but you're still grounded," Rick responded, his face just inches from Drew's.

"Grounded?" Was the almost giggled reply.

"Yup. I'm confining you to bed."

"And just how do you think you're gonna do that?" Drew taunted, eyes flashing at the challenge.

"I have handcuffs," Rick responded before kissing the other. Drew didn't fight him, not one bit. In fact, the big strong Army Officer seemed to almost melt into the other man, making Rick smile. He pulled back, just far enough to speak, and managed to say "welcome home Drew," before resuming the kiss.

He still couldn't believe that this was real, but he certainly didn't have any problems with spending the next few days examining the facts. He did intend to be extremely thorough, just to make sure. From the moan he heard his husband make, he figured that it was going to be an acceptable plan.


End file.
